ABSTRACT
The EU enlargement incorporating the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) was completed in 2004–2007 and represented the culmination of more than a decade of negotiations and preparations by the candidate countries and adaptation of policies and decision-making by the Union itself. It was a momentous and difficult undertaking that changed the size and character of the EU, but despite the challenges it brought, it was hailed by many as the true unification of Europe (Avery and Cameron 1997; Dimitrova 2004; Friis 1998; Maniokas 2005; Vachudova 2005; Vassiliou 2007).
